Words from Walsh February, 2018
Staying connected with Walsh School
Greetings from Principal Martin
Dear Parents and Guardians: Report cards went home last month, and you can all be proud of the progress your child has made. If you have any questions about your child’s education, please contact your teacher. Good communication is important in working together to help our children succeed!
I can’t believe we are in the 2nd semester already. Time surely does fly! At this time of the year, I like to remind parents to continue to stay vigilant in following the drop-off pattern in the North Street parking lot. Stay alert when moving in the line, and follow the instructions of our aides. Our district is continually reviewing procedures in an effort to stay current with not only our own safety standards, but also those recommendations shared with us by the first responder organizations. If you ever have concerns about our procedures, please feel free to call me.
February 2nd will mark our 100th day of school. This is a fun-filled day with many counting games and surprises. This year, our Valentine’s Day parties will be run by classroom teachers on Wednesday, February 14th. Please follow your teacher's direction regarding this celebration. Remember we are a “no food” treat school when sending in valentines. We will also have a day off in February, some spirit days, and a fun Math Night. Please make sure to check our calendar for those special days and times.
Registration for students entering kindergarten for the 2018/2019 school year has been set on our calendar for the evening of March 8th and during the day of March 7th. Look for more details coming home soon.
Lastly, the PFA and the Foundation for Education will hold a Candlelight Bowl on February 17th. Mark your calendars and consider planning an evening out with friends or family in support of these organizations, as we appreciate all the work they do for us. More information will be coming home soon. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. ~ Mrs. Teresa Martin, Principal/Walsh School
Important Dates in February
Dates to Remember in February
2 - 100th Day of School
2 - Walsh Spirit Day - Dress Old/100th Creative Day
2 - 6:00-7:30 pm Daddy/Daughter Dance
9 - 1st Grade Field Trip/Shedd Aquarium
13 - PFA Meeting at Ludwig
14 - Valentine's Day/Spirit Day - wear red
15 - Slammer Reading Program Starts
15 - Box Tops Collection Day
16 – School Improvement - 11:55 Dismissal - No EC Classes
19 – NO SCHOOL - President's Day
20 – BOE Mtg./District (7:00 pm)
22 – 5:30 pm - Family Math Night
23 – Spirit Day/Crazy Hair Day
Remember to dress your child appropriately with a coat, hat, scarf, mittens and boots. Students will be outside on days where the wind chill is at or above 10 degrees. All students will be going out unless they have a doctor’s note to keep them inside for medical reasons.
2017/18 Yearbooks!
Don't Forget to Order Your Yearbook!
All yearbooks must be ordered online by March 12, 2018.
Please use this school code when ordering: 12828518
Click here to order your yearbook YBPAY.LIFETOUCH.COM
We do not anticipate having any extra books, so make sure you reserve your copy today. Walsh, Reed and Ludwig schools share the same yearbook. Oak Prairie has a separate book.
P.E. News by Mr. Wallace
Kindergarten News
First Grade News
Fun Fundations News!!!!! We are going to continue working on digraphs, blends, glued sounds, and all those other awesome decoding strategies. Students will work on blending and segmenting up to five sounds in a closed syllable. We will work on vowel teams and on adding suffixes, introducing the addition of “–ing” and “-ed”. Students will also learn about the silent ”e”.
We will work on our Schoolwide NonFiction Unit of Study. Nonfiction is a rich, engaging genre offering a variety of topics that will entice any reader! Students will understand the structures and features of nonfiction texts. They will learn to use strategies before, during, and after reading to increase their comprehension of texts. Readers will apply self-monitoring skills and strategies to determine the meaning of important vocabulary. Readers will ask questions to deepen understanding. They will use fix-up strategies when coming upon unfamiliar words. Students will identify big ideas and supporting details within texts. Students will recognize the “expert “ and “literary” voices found in the genre and subgenres of nonfiction.
In math, we will focus on addition and subtraction to 20. First graders will develop fluency with addition and subtraction facts to 10, and strategies for working with facts to 20. They will learn how to write and solve equations that involve unknowns in all positions, and determine whether addition and subtraction equations are true or false.
Early Childhood News
The Reading Corner by Mrs. Price-Senders, First Grade Reading Specialist
Ways to Help your Child Build a Growth Mindset
· Talk about your child’s day
o Did you make a mistake today? What did you learn?
o What did you do that was difficult today?
· Remind your child that failure is okay
o Each time your child fails and tries again, his/her brain is growing stronger!
· Praise the process
o Praise your child’s effort or persistence through challenges
· Help your child change his/her dialogue
o Talk about changing negative language to positive (change “This is too hard!” to
“I can’t do this yet, but I will keep trying.”
Music News by Mrs. Rutkiewicz
Februay is a great month for singing fun songs. For the 100th day of school, we sing a song called “One, Zero, Zero.” Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day also gives us the chance to learn some great songs.
First graders are learning to sing with musical syllables (Do-re-mi) and are learning to recognize some music symbols and notes. We have played a game called “Music Symbol Fun,” and have learned a song called “Whacky Do Re Mi.” We will learn more musical terms with ‘Freddie the Frog’ and his adventures.
Kindergarten students are learning about different kinds of sounds that instruments make, and the unique quality of their own voices. During February and March, we will be learning about instrument sounds, the concept of fast/slow, and the up/down movement of melodies. I am teaching kindergarten students some beginning circle games and folk dances.
The kindergarten musical program will be on Friday, April 27, 2018. Put that date on your calendars! Ms. Galaviz, Ms. Finnen and Ms. Walsh’s classes will perform at the 9:30 a.m. performance. Ms. Sadowski, Ms. Bruecks and Ms. Tyrell’s classes will perform at the 1:30 p.m. performance. Classes perform only at their designated times (they do not perform twice). More detailed information to come soon.
Keep on singing and dancing! It will keep you warm!
Mrs. Rutkiewicz
News from the Media Center
Students began working with Microsoft Word. We are learning how to change fonts and reviewing important keys such as shift, delete and return. The first-grade students will create acrostic poems and change the font colors and sizes. Kindergarten students will be working on Microsoft Word, too. They will be introduced to fonts and using toolbars.
Wassily Kandinsky
Jim Dine
Jim Dine Sculpture
1st Grade Artwork
1st Grade Snowflakes in Hallway
Kindergarten Winter Project
Art News by Mrs. Deckinga
The kindergarten classes will be learning about American Pop artist, Jim Dine. Dine is known for his colorful paintings and large standing sculptures of hearts. The students will be experimenting with clay to create small textured hearts in the style of Dine.
The first-grade students are just beginning their Wassily Kandinsky-inspired abstract paintings, that were described last month. We'll be continuing these throughout the month of February.
Making Math Count by Mrs. Romeo
Students at Walsh School are continuing to work hard. Our 100 Wall is almost filled! Thank you, parents, for all of your help.
All students are working hard on DreamBox at school, but we would love to see them working on it more at home. Both classroom incentives and rewards for students who put in time at home are in place. It is a great way to reinforce skills and expose them to some new ones.
We are looking forward to family math night. It will be February 22nd. This year’s theme is 101 Dalmatians. Please join us for board games, make and take games, and measurement with cooking. Cruella and her puppy will also be available for pictures.